Tim O’Brien’s "The Things They Carried"

“The Things They Carried” through Tim O’Brien documents the experience that soldiers went via during the Vietnam war. It is written in a soldier’s voice and catalogs variety of things that troopers came back with to the camp including the intangible reminiscences of guilt and fear and physical objects like morphine M-16 rifles and matches.
Critical approaches to find out about and the reason behind
The psychoanalytic perspective and narrative structure. In the narrative structure, there is repetition as seen in the documentation. The characters hold appearing and reappearing to either enhance a theme or introduce a new altogether. The psychoanalytic method proposes that memories and especially repressed memories keep affecting us on a daily basis. Though repressed, the memories influence a person’s decision-making or behavior, and in most cases, this happens without the individual awareness i.e. unconsciously. Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” is an efficient description of how the memories of fear and guilt were repressed by the soldiers. The psychodynamic approach will assess how this experience would affect the soldiers as they would live the memories for the rest of their lives. Reason for the choice of these subjectsThe study of human beings is an interesting subject. Acquiring psychological knowledge is crucial as it gives one knowledge to know and understand people better. It was a personal desire to understand the soldiers who participated in the Vietnam war. Better, Tim O’Brien narrates the experience from a soldier’s perspective. The psychodynamic approach is crucial in telling what the soldiers must have gone through in dealing with the memories. Studying the history of Vietnam war is a personal subject of interest. The history is very crucial but underreported in most cases. It was fascinating to find a source that documents a war experience in a chronologic manner. The topic as “interdisciplinary”The topic is an inter-disciplinary which means that it focuses on more than one topic. The Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” is a documentary that records the Vietnam experience from different disciplinary approaches including the psychological and narrative frameworks. Questions to respond to in the paperIn the research, some of the important questions to focus on include the actual history of the war. The history of Vietnam war is often underreported. With credible sources, it is possible to do extensive research for the events that happened in Vietnam. Also, the psychological effects that the war had on the soldiers who came home is crucial. “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a title that indicates not only the physical materials but also the experience, pain, and guilt. It is for sure that this experience would become part of the soldiers and affect their lives henceforth.Thesis statement: Love does not make men weaker in war but instead, having a traumatizing experience affects a man’s emotional state and hence makes him more vulnerable in warSources to use in the researchTo begin with, the primary source will be “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien using other historical sources to articulate the historical events will be helpful as well. An emphasis will be using several sources that document the Vietnam war. The purpose is for comparing the information to ensure that the sources give similar information. In the case that the information differs the various sources will help to discriminate between which information is more coherent and which information is does not hold up. Along with the history sources, the use of psychological sources will be necessary. Adapting a psychodynamic approach for the war will require the use of documents that articulate the theoretical approach. Information about the approach will be important to help understand the emotional experience the soldiers acquired in the battlefield. At the same time to explain how the experience is likely to affect them psychologically and hence understand how and why they are likely to behave in a specific manner. The use of peer-reviewed sources is crucial. The peer-reviewed sources provide information that is correct in the current study periods. Using peer review sources incorporates the most recent developments in the particular field study. The sources will, therefore, assist in research to provide a relevant research paper as well as address the current issues of conflicts.In the “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien the primary focus for the research will be the psychological impact of the war on soldiers. The focus will be given on the history of the Vietnam war to a considerable extent. The paper will be researching on the thesis that rather, it does not love that makes men weak during the war but the emotional experience and especially if traumatizing. In the paper, the sources to be used include mostly the peer review since they provide credible and up-to-date information. Using such sources will help the research paper to be credible and valid.